Getting Mad About the Wrong Thing on Madison’s Per Diem Debate

Earlier this week Zach posted an article about the State Assembly possibly raising the per diem expense rate paid to Assembly members during their stays in Madison. Surprisingly the article resulted in one of most spirited discussions of the week. The per diem has a role to play in controlling…

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Again with the mixed messaging…

This is a week old, but it’s worth discussing… “Scott Walker will see the inside of a jail cell before he sees the inside of another term!” yelled Wisconsin Democratic Party Chariman Mike Tate to great cheers at his party’s state convention this past weekend. When Newsradio 620 WTMJ’s Wisconsin’s…

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Do Democrats in the legislature need to deepen their bench?

From Playground Politics: Democrats need to spend more time cultivating future leaders in the legislature and less time turning the place over to retreads like Peter Barca, Fred Kessler, Jim Holperin, and Tim Cullen. Now Joe Wineke may well be on his way back, which would be a huge benefit…

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Peter Barca Endorses Mayor Tom Barrett for Governor

Just announced. “Tom Barrett will be a governor who will focus on jobs, and restore trust, integrity and accountability to state government. Our Wisconsin values have been under assault from this governor over the past 15 months, and its time for a healer who will bring us together. I know…

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Michigan – Where Democracy Goes to Die!

H/T Rachel Maddow For this great piece showing how the Michigan Republicans blatantly ignore the law and the Constitution to get their far right agenda passed(sound familiar). Why do they do that you might ask? The answer is simple, their ideas and philosophy do not hold up to scrutiny, the…

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The mother of all OconoDems meetings-Saturday, April 7th

Dwayne Block, organizer of the independent, grassroots group, OconoDems, really knows how to reel in the big-name Wisconsin politicos. Maybe they come for the large group of enthusiastic, plugged-in citizens who gather once a month in politically conservative Oconomowoc. Or maybe it’s the free coffee and sugar wafers. Regardless, tomorrow,…

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Peter Barca is NOT running for Governor

Despite a very persistent movement across the state encouraging Rep. Peter Barca to run in the recall election for governor of Wisconsin, Rep. Barca has announced that he is not a candidate: Let me thank you personally for all of your kind support and encouragement for me to run for…

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About Kathleen Falk’s Union Endorsements

There are still many people who are upset that Kathleen Falk has received the endorsements of WEAC / Emily's List and AFSCME / John "Sly "Sylvester , the full membership of IBEW and (most importantly) Yours truly! Lets look at a few objections: Q. I want Russ Feingold to run….

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Don’t be fooled: Walker’s recall is not about collective bargaining rights

Recently, local news stations in the Milwaukee area have reported that Walker’s recall is due to the issue of collective bargaining rights. But that’s simply not the case. The loss of the right to collectively bargain may have propelled Wisconsinites to storm the Capitol last February, but that’s not what…

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Wississippi Might be too Generous

The latest “special jobs session” where the Governor promised a “laser focus on jobs” which ended last night produced a total of 0.0 bills pertaining to jobs. Instead they took up such important bills as these: * Students Test Scores can now be used to fire and discipline teachers. *…

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